All the cassette tapes, dude.
Described as “hypnagogic pop”, TEARJERKER have successfully created a maelstrom of drone puss, which is elongated by distant campfire like howls, shoegaze puffs of smoke and strange voices offering anecdotal thoughts. They have in essence released a beautiful collection of everybody’s sad aching moments transcribed within the medium of musical scores.
Continue reading “Tearjerker – Strangers Cassette”
Our friends BOZMO from Boston unleash their debut album “Hosanna in the Highest”, released in cassette format just in time for the summer months. Continue reading “Bozmo – Hosanna in the Highest”
Recently discovered Philly bro Scott Olsen fronts the solo bedroom project MAVIS THE DOG. Olsen just released his second album, cleverly titled “The Second Album” on a series of 100 red cassette tapes, released entirely by himself. There isn’t a spot to buy this release physically, but you can just as easily download it for free by checking the Mavis the Dog blogspot. Olsen primarily enlists help from his guitar, a drumset and his own voice, occasionally branching out with some piano, harmonica and bass for good measure. These two songs below sound equally breezy and easy-going, encapsulating what the rest of the album might sound like to the listener. “Not All Things Must Past” sways along for a solid two minutes before breaking off into a quivering and carnivalesque guitar lead, while “End of Our Day” is a free-flowing and optimistic jam dominated by joyous pianos.
End of Our Day –
Not All Things Must Pass –
Mavis the Dog on Blogspot
Get it here: Free Download on Mediafire
Genre/ Tags: Lo-Fi, Bedroom Pop, Singer-Songwriter
WAX IDOLS is the brainchild of Hether Fedewa, and this cassette is her first official release. Coming later down the road is a 7″ from Hozac Records, and although we still have some time until that hits the shelves, this little gem here requires a head start on your attention. Continue reading “Wax Idols – All Too Human Cassette”
We haven’t covered a cassette here on the blog for a few months now, so I figured now might be a good time to set these gems free to eager listening ears. As far as I know, you can’t find most of these tracks anywhere else on the internet, so I’m very enthused to present you with HEAVY TIMES SICK LISTENS. Continue reading “Heavy Times – Sick Listens 2005-2010”
What’s up dudes!? Hopefully everybody had a decent weekend. If not hopefully this week in music will help you forget about it, because I’ve got a ton of gems in store for you all this week. To start, let’s look at this cassette tape from Bridgetown Records headman Kevin Greenspon.
This stuff popped up in the middle of last week on Altered Zones, and after listening to the featured track I felt like I needed to hear the rest. Not just because I liked what I had heard, but I thought it was unique. Greenspon creates small life-like biospheres in each of these new tracks, coming at you with some serious warmth and passion. The delayed guitars are beyond gratifying as they swirl and surge over your head, immediately throwing you right in the midst of an echoed out dream world where anything is possible, but not exactly all good things. Many different moods present themselves in the music as you change from one track to the other – suggesting that each song is on it’s own when it comes down to mood. Basically it’s up to whatever you think. Either way, the sonic textures, grittiness, and delayed guitars go a long way in painting lush, vast soundscapes, wherein you’ll definitely find some ineffable love for this music. Be sure to check out these thought-provoking songs right below, and buy the cassette before it’s gone for good, because it’s very affordable.
Machine Shop –
Atrophied –
My Rating: 7/10
Genre/ Tags: Ambient, Experimental
Rose Window Cassette: Tracklist:
1.) Machine Shop
2.) Heart on Chain
3.) X.A. Assembly
4.) Atrophied
Kevin Greenspon on Myspace
Kevin Greenspon – Official Website
BUY the cassette only from Life’s Blood before it’s gone – Limited to 51 !!
It’s always nice to have clarification on things you weren’t entirely sure about. Waaaay back this past April, I went to a show at the Danger Danger Gallery in Philadelphia to see the Strange Boys. One of the opening bands that night was a local Philly band named MOON WOMEN. Now I didn’t know this at the time, but it turns out that that was their very first show performing as Moon Women. In my write-up from the show, I mentioned how the lead guitarists amp broke in the middle of their set, but I was never totally sure that’s what had happened. Sure enough, that was the case, and go figure that it happens during their very first show together – what a bummer. The dudes in the band recently got in touch me with regarding their debut release, a cassette-single (cassingle, if you will) featuring two brand new original songs, and it’s a hell of a first effort.
“Listen Closely” starts off on a mysterious note, and shortly after the rhythm section joins in to give the song it’s structure. Right away the bass line forces you to bob your head along to the beat, and the heavy, textured guitars are right up in your grill. They help create a huge wall of sound for the song, incorporating psychedelic qualities as well as some nods to shoegaze. There’s even an out-of-this-world organ worked into the mix, which gives the song it’s third-world qualities, and once it’s joined with the guitar, you’re not going to know what hit you (and now I understand why the amp broke that night – just listen to this stuff).
This song becomes an instant classic, and that infectious bass line still continues to rock on, keeping you in it’s grasp for the better part of the entire song. Not every band has much success putting qualities like this together in one single song, but Moon Women certainly made it work this time. Check out the awesome music video for this song, featuring clips of old, grainy VHS tapes found in local Philadelphia libraries, and don’t forget to check out the other side of the tape, “A Collection of Thought” – it has some awesome guitar progressions and more of that enormous Moon Women sound that I am now extremely fond of. Hopefully you will be too – check out the whole tape below, and also the video.
Listen Closely –
A Collection of Thought –
My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Psychedelic, Post-Punk, Garage Rock
Listen Closely Cassette: Tracklist:
1.) Listen Closely
2.) A Collection of Thought
Moon Women – Official Website
Send $3 and yr address to mooncommand@gmail.com for your very own Moon Women tape – Limited to 50 !
Yo! Here’s something today that I don’t think many of you bros are going to be familiar with. That would mainly be due to the fact that these guys are a local Philly band. I had the pleasure of seeing them open for DOOMSTAR! the other night while I was at the Millcreek Tavern. By the time the night was over, one of the dudes from The Eeries was still hanging around, and I ended up talking to him for a bit. The result? He hooked me up with a couple of brand new Eeries cassette tapes, and we left it at “Yeah man, we’ll be talking through e-mails soon enough,” or something like that. I don’t know if I’m getting around to this sooner than he thought, but The Eeries definitely deserve to be heard. So let’s hear them!
For starters, I’m pretty sure these guys do all of their recording themselves. Not exactly sure how they go about it, but this Blogspot post may help shed some light on that. I know it’s not the same EP we’re talking about here, but it gives us some insight, right? “Instruments live in the basement, vocals in the bathroom, dishes in the sink.” He actually gave me that cassette too, but we’ll talk about that one some other day in the near future. Now onto the music – I kind of had a slight idea of where there sound was going after seeing them live, but I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions too quickly before listening.
A ridiculously twangy guitar dominates all of the songs, sometimes with a more poppy flare (Walk You Home), and then other times with a moody blues-rock feel (Feel Right, In Your Head). The guitars have an extremely concentrated sound, and they’re always backed by constantly rolling drums and lazy, punchy bass lines. For the last song of the cassette, they kind of bring all of these elements together in one single song, called “Pocket”. Honest lyrics like “Somewhere in your pocket I found love” complement the twangin’, country-esque feel of the song, and once the final minute rolls around they slow it all down for a true blues vibe. They even do some nice howling over the mix for good measure. You can check out all of the songs from the cassette tape below, and then the Eeries were cool enough to set these tracks free for anybody to download, which you can do RIGHT HERE. Go through their Blogspot page for even more downloads, too!
Feel Right –
In Your Head –
Walk You Home –
Pocket –
My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Lo-Fi, Blues Rock, Garage Rock
Feel Right Cassette: Tracklist:
1.) Feel Right
2.) In Your Head
3.) Walk You Home
4.) Pocket
DOWNLOAD the cassette completely for free !!!
The Eeries on Blogspot – Plenty more free downloads here
The Eeries on Last.fm
Remember the BAND in HEAVEN? I posted their awesome demo tunes back at the very end of May, and since then those guys must have been hard at work. They’re now back on the scene with a brand new cassette tape, which may or may not be their first official release, and the tape is split with another band you may have already come across somewhere in your internet travels: WEIRD WIVES. But just in case you’re not familiar, I’ll give you a quick fill in. Weird Wives is 3/5 of the band Surfer Blood, who believe it or not were actually already a band before Surfer Blood came together. I’ve come to understand that Weird Wives have a couple 7″ records out there, but I can’t seem to find any information on them. The best I found were these two EP downloads – EP#1 and EP#2.
So if you remember the Band in Heaven or if you’ve already heard Weird Wives, then you may already know what to expect from this brand new cassette tape. Gritty, abrasive, in-yr-face punk rock that’s going to knock your ass to the ground and keep you down there for as long as you’re willing to accept the musical harassment that’s on this tape. The first song up – “Summer Bummer” – comes from the Band in Heaven, and it does just that. Not only is it noisy, but they’ve even managed to work some eerie, space-like sounding keyboards in the mix as well, giving this song a little of the best from both worlds. Next would come “Suicide Pact”, and they take a small step back on the intensity this time around, but nothing too drastic. Before I knew the tracklist of this tape I was PRAYING their song “High Low” was on it…no worries though. Maybe next time? Flip the tape over for some more face pounding noise-punk action, only this time we’re in Weird Wives territory. Drony vocals and lazy-but-heavy guitars dominate the songs, possibly influenced by smoking a bit of weed and playing some music? You tell me, I dunno. Check out the two songs from the tape below and see what you think. Please leave some comments too! People don’t do that enough around here! If you want to hear the rest of the songs from the tape, follow this link here.
Summer Bummer –
Head Bugs –
My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Noise Rock, Lo-Fi, Shoegaze, Punk
Split Tape: Tracklist:
1.) The Band in Heaven – Summer Bummer
2.) The Band in Heaven – Suicide Pact
3.) Weird Wives – Head Bugs
4.) Weird Wives – Wet Blanket
Band in Heaven on Myspace
Band in Heaven previously posted on the Drone
Weird Wives on Myspace
More info. on the tape right here @ Bandcamp
Workerbee Records is releasing the tape, but I don’t see any info. on their site just yet
Velvet Davenport is the moniker of the one-man band led by Parker Sprout, who hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has other people fill in certain positions when it comes to recording, but it’s still all about Sprout. I am to understand this cassette came out sometime during 2009, and since then Velvet Davenport has gone on to release some other material. There’s a 7″ single from the awesome Shdwply Records called “Get Out”, and then there’s a full-length CD called “Happy Ending” that was also put out by Shdwply, which I’m having difficulty finding any solid information on.
This cassette tape doesn’t last very long (it’s pretty short – only about 13 minutes), but it’s packed with these trippy, hazy, sun-shining jams that bring to mind the likes of Syd Barrett and his solo efforts, or even his early work from Pink Floyd. There’s a song called “Lemon” on the cassette, and it’s a gorgeous mix of heavenly guitars and shimmering sound effects, and Sprout howls over the mix in a somewhat monotone fashion – probably the most defining moment when it comes to comparing to Barrett. But whether you think that or not, these sunny songs are bound to put a smile on your face. Listen to the tracks below, and then check out the other tracks they have for you up on Myspace.
Lemon –
Drop –
My Rating: 7/10
Genre/ Tags: Psychedelic, Acoustic, Pop
Lemon Drop Square Box: Tracklist:
1.) One
2.) Lemon
3.) Drop
4.) Two
5.) Square
6.) Box
Velvet Davenport on Myspace
BUY the “LDSB” Cassette directly from Moon Glyph
BUY other VD releases from Shdwply Records
Styrofoam Drone 